


Delicate

by Pembrooke330



Category: Archie Comics, Archie Comics & Related Fandoms, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: College, F/M, Jeronica, Love, Romance, Sex, Song Lyrics, Veronica Lodge - Freeform, delicate by taylor swift, delicate lyrics, jughead - Freeform, jughead jones - Freeform, veronica - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-20 15:24:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13720524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pembrooke330/pseuds/Pembrooke330
Summary: She had enjoyed catching up with him, hearing everything he’d been up to, learning about the road tripping he had been doing whenever he had free time. He’d seen some amazing things.“Out west, in the desert, I saw the most incredible sunsets.”Veronica had smiled as he spoke, still so taken with the vibrant blue of his eyes, a color blue she had never seen before.How she felt about him hadn’t changed. He was the same Jughead, just a bit wiser and a bit more mature. And she realized just how much she didn’t want to go another nearly two years without seeing him.





	Delicate

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fic based off of the lyrics from the song "Delicate" by Taylor Swift

Veronica sat alone at the bar, she felt edgy, nervous. She hadn’t seen him in a couple of weeks. Not since they had randomly run into each other in the university cafeteria. He’d been sitting at a table in a corner, his laptop open, eating a hamburger.

She had smiled to herself as she nervously walked over, memories flooding her thoughts.

“Long time no see.”

Jughead Jones looked up. He smiled.

“Ronnie.”

And that was all it had taken. Something so simple that had taken her too long to do.

She sat down across from him after he’d moved his things off of the chair and they’d talked for hours.

They hadn’t seen each other since their freshman year of college, and it had been brief. They were both getting their dorm room assignments at the Riverdale University campus housing department. They had only managed a quick hello and that had been all. She was still too embarrassed.

It had been especially awkward since it had been the first time she’d seen Jughead since the night they’d gotten drunk and kissed each other at their high school graduation party. The night that Betty had broken up with him and he was so heartbroken that Veronica had tried to make him feel better. It was the same night that Archie had caught them in the middle of their liplock, and had proceeded to break up with her too.

She had tried to explain to Archie that she had been drunk, it was just a moment of weakness. But Archie wouldn’t listen.

“You’ve been hung up on him for months now. You think I didn’t see it? Do you really think I’m  _that_  dumb? Well I might not be as smart as your  _precious_ Jughead Jones, but I’m smart enough to know when my own girlfriend has feelings for someone else. I should have broken up with you a hell of a lot sooner!”

Veronica had been crushed, but she hadn’t told Archie he was wrong. He wasn’t wrong. She  _did_  have feelings for Jughead, and she’d had them ever since they had worked together on a poetry project for English class. 

They’d spent late nights going over the sonnets they would critique and interpret for the oral report in class. Maybe it had been the romantic words and the way Jughead had read them, but something about it had stirred something in her that she couldn’t quite understand.

She’d realized what it was when she would see him with Betty, holding her hand, kissing her cheek. Veronica felt a squeeze in her chest, a pain that could only mean one thing. She had feelings for him, but she couldn’t do anything about it.

So Veronica had decided to spend her summer in the Hamptons, avoiding everyone, even Jughead.

He had texted her, asking if they could talk, but she was too embarrassed. She’d essentially thrown herself at him while he had been vulnerable and while she had been dating his best friend. She’d felt more horrible than she’d ever felt in her life. Betty was no longer speaking to Veronica, and her reputation was beyond sullied. She could only hope everyone would forget the damage she’d caused by the time college classes started in the fall.

Regardless, she had spent her freshman year laying low, even though only a couple handfuls of her classmates from Riverdale High were going to the town’s university. She worked on her studies, made the Dean’s list, and constantly wondered what Jughead was up to.

She could never quite get him out of her mind.

What she hadn’t known, until she’d seen him that day in the cafeteria, was that he’d been going to Riverdale U as well. He’d mostly taken online courses, but now he had a couple of classes on campus, which was why he’d started using the University cafeteria WiFi to work on his job as an online computer tech in between Creative Writing and English Literature.

“It’s pretty nice. I can do it from anywhere and at any time as long as I log at least 20 hours a week.” He’d told her.

She had enjoyed catching up with him, hearing everything he’d been up to, learning about the road tripping he had been doing whenever he had free time. He’d seen some amazing things.

“Out west, in the desert, I saw the most incredible sunsets.”

Veronica had smiled as he spoke, still so taken with the vibrant blue of his eyes, a color blue she had never seen before. 

How she felt about him hadn’t changed. He was the same Jughead, just a bit wiser and a bit more mature. And she realized just how much she didn’t want to go another nearly two years without seeing him.

So they had exchanged phone numbers, randomly texting each other a hello here and there and a funny meme.

But it was late in the evening, while Veronica lay in her bed in her small apartment off campus, that her phone lit up with a text message. It was from Jughead.

_“Meet me at Sweetwater Pub?”_

She had immediately replied, not able to play it cool at all. This was exactly what she’d been hoping for.

_“On my way.”_

As she jumped out of bed and quickly got dressed. He shot her another text.

“ _Go to the bar in the back. It’s a lot more private.”_

Her heart pounded as she pulled on a pair of skinny jeans and her favorite black sweater. She fixed up as much as she could before grabbing her keys and heading out the door, her hands shaking from how anxious she suddenly felt. She wanted to see him, spend time with him, but she was scared shitless. And being scared shitless was not something she often felt.

When she’d arrived at the dive bar and headed towards the back, she was disappointed to see that Jughead hadn’t yet arrived. In fact, the back bar was completely empty. So she took a seat and ordered a vodka tonic. She wasn’t 21 yet but the bartender didn’t ID her.

“Jughead told me to let you know he’d be here soon.” Said the bartender, with a nametag that said “Phil” on it, as he pushed her drink glass towards her.

Veronica thanked him as she glanced at her phone. She didn’t have any service, no wonder Phil had relayed the message. And she laughed to herself realizing that when Jughead had told her the back bar was private, he’d really meant it. They’d have no interruptions at all.

As she continued to sit and sip her drink, the edgy feeling started to fade, but then she heard his voice behind her and the apprehension returned in full force.

“Hey.” 

Veronica turned to see Jughead as he took a seat at the bar next to her.

He looked different. He wasn’t wearing his beanie, and he had on a leather jacket. It was a look she wasn’t used to, but she liked it. Jughead Jones had always been good looking, but now, he was heartbreakingly handsome.

And her attraction to him didn’t help calm her nerves, and neither did the drink.

“Thank you for meeting me on such short notice. I just…I’ve been wanting to ask you to hang out…I was just afraid you might turn me down.”

Veronica looked at him, unable to hide her surprise.

“Why in the world do you think I’d turn you down?”

Jughead shrugged.

“I don’t know, I mean…I know it was a long time ago, but…the last time I saw you, I thought…I thought you liked me but then when I tried to talk to you…after the party…you wouldn’t respond.”

Veronica could feel her face growing warm. Blushing the way that only Jughead Jones could make her do.

“Jug, I was  _mortified_  over what I’d done. You and Betty had just broken up, I was dating Archie. I thought you’d hate me for being so forward, for thinking I was taking advantage of you. I…I liked you a lot, and I felt I had ruined everything by kissing you.”

But Jughead shook his head as he chuckled.

“See, that’s why you should have answered me. I could have explained something really important to you. For instance, why Betty had broken up with me in the first place.”

Veronica looked at him, confused.

“Why did she break up with you?”

Jughead sighed.

“Because she’d discovered something about me. She’d discovered that I had feelings for you. That I’d had them for months, ever since you and I had done the sonnet project together.”

Jughead paused, taking a deep breath before continuing.

“Veronica, I was crazy about you, but I didn’t think you’d feel the same way. So I tried to just get over how I felt, and just keep dating Betty hoping I would eventually realize that the feelings weren’t anything but an extension of those romantic poems. But I didn’t get over it. Betty had found a letter I had written to you. A letter I never got a chance to give you. And then when you kissed me that night at the party…it was incredible. I hated that Archie saw us, but, I never regretted it. I wanted more of it. When I couldn’t get you to talk to me, I figured you had been drunk and regretted it and blamed me for Archie breaking up with you. I felt terrible.”

Veronica couldn’t believe what she was hearing, and she could feel tears playing at the corners of her eyes knowing that Jughead had thought she’d blamed him, regretted kissing him, didn’t want anything to do with him.

“Damn it, Jughead…I had no idea. God, I’m such an idiot.”

But Jughead took her hand in his.

“No, you’re not. Not at  _all_. I think…maybe it just wasn’t our time back then. But, Ronnie, when you came up to me in the cafeteria…everything I’d felt for you then came flooding back.”

Veronica couldn’t help but smile.

“And so…I asked you here tonight to confess all of this to you before I chickened out.”

Veronica laughed.

“Jughead Jones? Chicken out? That’s definitely not like you.” She replied, suddenly realizing they were still holding hands.

Jughead chuckled.

“When it comes to  _you_ …I’ve always been a chicken. I was relieved when you kissed me that night. I never would have gotten up the nerve, no matter how many drinks I had.”

Veronica sighed.

“Jughead, I’m sorry you thought I didn’t want to talk to you. I did. I thought about you all the time. I wanted to talk to you more than anything, but I was so embarrassed. But…I’m glad we ran into each other again…because…I’d really like to have a second chance.”

Jughead gazed at her, a crooked smile on his face.

“I’d love a second chance too, Veronica.”

The two sat drinking, talking, and laughing for so long that Phil had to finally kick them out.

“Sorry Phil!” Jughead called as he waved goodbye to the bartender.

He wrapped his arm around Veronica’s waist, and she felt a flutter in her chest at the contact. It felt natural, and right. She couldn’t help but revel in it as she cozied up to him.

“Would it be too forward of me if I asked you to come over to my place? I could make you a drink…my specialty…”

Veronica smiled up at him as they waited for their cab. She wanted to treat this thing with Jughead as delicately as she could, but she didn’t want to say no.

“Are you sure it’s not too soon?” She asked him, unsure, but not wanting to talk him out of wanting her to come over.

Jughead shook his head.

“I think we’ve waited long enough for this.” He said before leaning down to kiss her.

When Jughead’s lips met hers, it felt so familiar but so new. There was experience now behind his kiss, a confidence he hadn’t had a couple of years earlier.

There was a sweetness but an urgency as his mouth worked hers, and she found herself wrapping her arms around his neck as he held her against him.

There would be no interruptions this time.

“Let’s go.” He said as he pulled away and took her hand so they could get to his place as soon as possible.

He was in her head, just as he’d always been, but now it was so much more than thoughts. Jughead was her reality.

And as he led her up the stairs to his apartment on the third floor with the big picture window that looked out over all of Riverdale, she realized that no matter what she had done that night when high school had ended, he’d still liked her. That her reputation hadn’t mattered to him, and she wished she had known that back then. Maybe she wouldn’t have been so afraid to face him again.

But with time, she had grown wiser and better and she wasn’t the same girl she had been in high school. The past couple of years had given her a new perspective, and a new outlook on what was important. As delicate as she needed to treat this thing with Jughead, she wasn’t going to be afraid of it. She would take whatever she could get, she had waited too long.

“Here you go, my very own concoction. I call it, The Jones. Pretty creative, huh? It’s just white wine with some Sprite in it.”

Veronica laughed as she took the drink from Jughead. He took a sip from his own glass and smiled amorously at her as he played with a strand of her dark hair.

“Did you just now come up with this drink recipe as an excuse to get me to come over?” She asked him with a teasing grin.

Jughead nodded, a sheepish grin on his handsome face.

“You know, you didn’t have to entice me with alcohol to get me to come over, Jug. You could have just said, ‘I have a nice couch, wanna see?’”

Jughead laughed.

“Well…I  _do_  have a nice couch. But an even nicer bed. Wanna see?”

Veronica took a long swig of her “Jones” drink before responding.

“Yes.” She said as she put the glass down on a nearby table and allowed Jughead to lead her to his bedroom.

She didn’t have time to look around and take in her surroundings, but from what she did see, the bedroom was purely Jughead. With books and notepads all over every surface.

He took her into his arms and kissed her feverishly, passionately, as if she would disappear alltogether if he didn’t hurry, as if there was some sort of time limit on their night together.

“I’m not going anywhere, Jug…I promise.” She murmured against his mouth as she began to undress them both.

“I don’t want to lose you again.” He replied breathlessly as his hands tangled in her hair.

“You won’t.” She assured him as she took his face in her hands and kissed him long and deep. 

They made love all night and into the early morning hours, never able to get enough. It didn’t matter how many times their bodies molded together under Jughead’s sheets, they were never fully satisfied until they made love again and then again. How it continued to get better each and every time, she had no idea, but being with Jughead was like pure magic, and she never wanted it to end. She wanted him to be hers. She didn’t want anyone else ever again. He was it for her. She knew it deep in the depths of her heart and soul. She was in love.

“I’m going to go get us some water. You know…rehydrate a little.” Jughead said with a chuckle as he got up from the bed, Veronica appreciating his naked form in the moonlit bedroom.

She could hear his feet on the hardwood floors as he went to his small kitchen, and her heart leapt in her chest, still feeling as though she was going to wake up from some kind of dream. Not believing she was here with him. Finally.

And as the early morning hours began to tick closer, she found herself watching him sleep, wondering what he might be dreaming about, and hoping it was about her.

The End.

 


End file.
